What I'm building and what I'm learning.

The Invisible Work of Running a Website: What I Learned After Launch Day

Launching a website was only the beginning; the real lessons came from the continuous, often unseen, effort required to keep it alive and thriving online.

What Years of WordPress Taught Me About Building My Own Content Systems

For years, WordPress was the default for content. Pushing it to its limits taught me invaluable lessons about managing information at scale and why I eventually started building my own publishing platforms.

When SEO and PPC Fought for Attention: What I Learned From Using Both

SEO and PPC were often treated as rival ways to win traffic. Using both taught me that paid search could reveal intent quickly, while organic search could turn those lessons into something longer lasting.

What Local Businesses Actually Wanted From a Website

Some local businesses wanted more enquiries. Others already had enough work and simply needed a credible presence online. That distinction taught me to stop assuming every website had the same job.

When Website Traffic Meant Nothing: What Affiliate Marketing Taught Me About Intent

Affiliate marketing taught me that traffic volume could be a vanity metric. Matching searches and clicks to actual sales showed me that the valuable visitor was the one with the right intent.

I Started by Building My Own Ecommerce. Somehow I Ended Up Back There

One of my earliest ecommerce projects was T-ShirtMe, where customers could design their own T-shirt and I built the shopping-cart system myself. After years of using WooCommerce, I have ended up building more of the infrastructure myself again.

When Google Ads Became a Black Box: What I Lost and What It Taught Me

I liked Google Ads when I could see what was happening and act on the detail. As more decisions moved into automation, losing that visibility reinforced how much I value systems I can inspect and understand.

The Myth of the Perfect Website: When Technical SEO Missed the Business Point

For years, I chased technical perfection in web design and SEO, believing the best-built sites would always win. I learned that flawless code and high rankings didn't guarantee business success.

The Simple Websites That Taught Me Complex Business Lessons

Building basic websites for local businesses in the early 2000s seemed straightforward. But those simple projects taught me profound lessons about real business needs beyond just having a digital presence.

Stop Building Affiliate Shops. Build Better Answers.

I think affiliate websites are heading somewhere much more interesting. Instead of building another shop full of products, answer the question properly first, then let relevant products appear naturally inside the answer. I’ve been connecting Awin feeds, Affiliate Brain, live product data and 1jump2.com to see what that looks like in practice.

From Google Traffic to Business Value: The Evolution of "Website Visitors"

For years, website traffic was the main goal. But I learned that not all visitors are equal. My journey showed me the crucial difference between traffic numbers and true business value.

The More AI Can Write, the More Your Own Experience Matters

Google’s latest guidance for AI search has made me think differently about AEO. If AI can generate perfectly acceptable content about almost anything, the valuable bit is increasingly the knowledge, experience and context that only your website can provide.

What Building Ecommerce Sites Taught Me About Product-Market Fit, Not Just Traffic

Building ecommerce websites for clients taught me early on that traffic and rankings were only half the battle. The real lesson was understanding product-market fit and customer retention.

Why I Rarely Start With WordPress Anymore

After more than 20 years building websites, I no longer assume every new idea needs the same platform, structure or technology. Moving from client web design to building my own products taught me to start with what the project needs to become.

AI Suggestions Are Now Live on InPlay.finance

Premium users can now see AI-powered market observations alongside InPlay’s live suggested trades, adding another layer of context during the trading day.

What Building Websites for Local Businesses Taught Me About True Business Needs

Building websites for local businesses taught me that the site itself was rarely the whole answer. The real value was in understanding their deeper business needs.

Turning InPlay’s Market Data Into Useful AEO Content

InPlay.finance collects an enormous amount of stock market information every trading day. I’ve been building a new layer in Control Room that can understand that historical data, find genuinely interesting questions within it and use it as the evidence behind useful AEO articles.

InPlay Has Outgrown WordPress. So I’m Bringing It Into Control Room

InPlay.finance started life inside WordPress, but over the years it became a product in its own right. I’ve finally moved it into my own Control Room ecosystem, giving me a much better foundation for the next stage: turning live stock market data into genuinely useful AEO content.

TikTok Shop Affiliates Need to Stop Blaming TikTok

TikTok Shop gives affiliates access to traffic before they understand it, and that makes it very easy to blame the platform when the numbers change.

I Built a Control Room I Can Actually Ask Questions

I connected my 1J2 Control Room to ChatGPT and accidentally built something much more useful than another dashboard: a business system I can interrogate in plain English.

What Paying for Every Click Taught Me About True Customer Intent

My years managing Google Ads taught me that clicks don't equal sales. The real lesson was understanding true customer intent and the value of every interaction.

The Website Was Never Really the Finished Product

I spent years thinking the website was the product. Eventually, building ecommerce sites and business systems taught me that the most valuable work often happens behind the scenes.

TikTok Shop Is Not Just Bottom of Funnel Content

There is a growing idea that bottom-of-funnel content is the only content worth making for TikTok Shop. I think that completely misunderstands how people actually discover and buy products on TikTok.

More Videos = More Sales? TikTok Shop Data Isn’t That Simple

When a creator posts more videos and earns more money, it is tempting to assume one caused the other. But TikTok Shop performance is affected by sales events, existing content, traffic, conversion and product demand. Numbers are useful. Understanding what caused them is far more useful.

I Built a WordPress Plugin Because I Used to Be Scared of My Inbox

Many years ago, anxiety got to the point where I would avoid opening my email altogether. Eventually I employed a PA to help me organise it. Years later, I realised I could turn the system she taught me into software. Today, I submitted Susan Port to the official WordPress Plugin Directory.

I Think I Just Watched the Future of Search Happen

I’ve been building content around the idea that people will increasingly discover websites through AI rather than traditional search. Today, I watched it actually happen.

Your TikTok Shop Sales Are Down. But Is Your Content Actually Failing?

TikTok Shop sales can fall even when your content is performing well. I track my traffic throughout every day, and August has shown me why impressions, clicks and conversion need to be looked at separately before deciding something has gone wrong.

What I Used to Obsess Over in Web Design That Now Seems Trivial

From pixel perfection to intricate tech, I used to obsess over web design details that now seem trivial. Here's what I learned about building truly effective online presences.

I Built My Own Client Room, and 1J2 Invoicing Is Moving Into It

Today I built a proper Client Room for 1J2, bringing recurring services, invoicing, payments, reminders and reporting into a system I actually control. It also means a small change for existing clients: future 1J2 invoices will now be sent through my own billing system.

Answer Engine Optimization: Why AI Search Feels Like the Early Web Again

AI search is changing how people discover products, and for the first time in years I feel like technical affiliates have an opportunity to get ahead of much bigger retailers.

Why Context Matters in TikTok Shop Affiliate Journeys

My recent TikTok Shop activity showed a dip in performance, but the real lesson wasn't in the numbers themselves. It was in understanding my own deliberate choices during that period, and how those choices directly influenced the outcome.

Why I Stopped Building Websites for Clients and Started Building for Myself

For years, web design, SEO, ecommerce and Google Ads were services I provided for businesses. Eventually I realised the part I loved was not running an agency at all. It was building. That realisation changed what I chose to work on next.

I Spent 20 Years Chasing Google Rankings. Here’s What Actually Mattered.

After more than 20 years building and ranking websites, I’ve learned that lasting SEO success comes less from tricks and more from useful content, strong websites and understanding what people actually want.

GMV Max Is Hungry for New Videos: 5 Things TikTok Shop Affiliates Should Be Doing

GMV Max is constantly testing fresh TikTok Shop creatives. For affiliates, the opportunity is not just finding one viral winner. It is becoming the creator who consistently gives sellers strong new videos to test.

TikTok Views Suddenly Down? 5 Things to Do Before You Panic

If your TikTok views have suddenly dropped, you are not the only creator asking what is going on. Here are five sensible things to do before deleting videos, changing your strategy or assuming your account is broken.

Hooking Viewers: Why Price Curiosity Caught My Eye on TikTok Shop

I've been looking at my TikTok Shop affiliate journey, and one thing that really stood out was how different video hooks performed. Specifically, hooks that played on 'price curiosity' seemed to make a significant difference.

Why I’ve Always Been Obsessed With Automation

Long before AI, I was already looking for ways to remove repetitive work and build systems that could multiply my effort.

CapCut Finally Pushed Me Too Far, So I Built My Own AI Video Editor

CapCut putting audio extraction behind a paywall was annoying. Adding a watermark was the final straw. Instead of finding another app, I built the features I needed into my own TikTok Shop video workflow, including direct Grok integration that turns still images into AI video clips.

Stop Choosing One TikTok Shop Funnel: Your Videos Should Work Together

Top-of-funnel and bottom-of-funnel TikTok Shop videos should not compete. Used together, they can move viewers from discovery to purchase.

Your TikTok Shop Video Hasn’t Failed: Sales Can Arrive Days After the Views

TikTok Shop sales do not always arrive on the same day as the views. Learn why patience matters and why daily results rarely tell the whole story.

Why I Use B-Roll Instead of Random Distractions

Some TikTok Shop affiliates cut fruit or make coffee to hold attention. I think relevant B-roll can do the same job while also helping sell the product.

Don’t Scale Chaos: Build a Strategy Before You Chase More Videos

Forget arbitrary upload targets. Before you try to make more TikTok Shop videos, build a strategy that’s actually worth repeating.

The Scroll-Stopping Power of Contrast: Why Colour Matters on TikTok

Before anyone hears your hook, they’ve already judged your video. Here’s why contrast and colour can make the difference between a scroll and a view.

Demonstrate Before You Explain: The TikTok Affiliate Principle That’s Driving More Sales

The best TikTok Shop videos don’t start by explaining a product. They start by demonstrating the outcome. Here’s why “demonstrate before you explain” has become one of my biggest content principles.

The Day I Realised You Don’t Need to Be the Biggest

A foundational business philosophy derived from an early career lesson, emphasising niche building over market domination.

My TikTok Shop Videos Are Becoming a Compounding Asset

I've been noticing that older TikTok Shop videos are continuing to generate views and sales, turning them into a valuable, compounding asset.

The Best Businesses Start With an Irritation

Looking back over twenty-five years, some of my best ideas began with something small that simply didn’t make sense.

From Google Rankings to TikTok Algorithms

The platforms have changed dramatically, but the challenge is still the same: getting in front of the right people at the right time.

Before AI, I Was Automating Everything I Could

Long before APIs and AI assistants, I was building systems to automate repetitive work because doing it manually simply didn’t make sense.

Why Affiliate Marketing Became My First Love Again

After years of building websites and software, I found myself falling back in love with affiliate marketing. Here’s why today’s tools have made it more exciting than ever.

How I Make TikTok Shop Videos: My Full Formula

Understanding the deliberate decisions behind a creator's strategy provides the strongest explanation for performance shifts on TikTok Shop, rather than relying solely on raw data.

The Printed Catalogue That Became My First Exit

How I turned a printed wholesale T-shirt catalogue into an online business, reached the top of Google and eventually sold the website to a larger competitor.

My TikTok Shop Videos Are Becoming Long-Term Assets

I've discovered that older TikTok Shop content can continue to generate views and sales long after it's first posted, turning individual videos into compounding assets.

Twenty-Five Years of Chasing Better Ideas

An introduction to my journey building websites, software and online businesses over the last twenty-five years, and the lessons that continue to shape the products I’m building today.

How Higher-Ticket Products Reshaped My TikTok Shop Affiliate Approach

This month, I discovered that focusing on higher-ticket products can significantly change the economics of TikTok Shop affiliate marketing, making each successful conversion have a much greater impact.

Building a Central Payment Layer for Everything I Create

How I built pay.1j2.com, a reusable payment service connecting Loyalty and my other projects to Stripe through secure requests, webhooks and callbacks.

Why I’m Finally Building Loyalty

After years on hold, I’m finally building Loyalty, a digital platform designed to help independent businesses encourage repeat customers. Here’s the story behind the project and how the idea has evolved.

The Biggest Thing I Learned in June

Reading My 2007 Guardian Interview Nearly Twenty Years Later

A reflection on enduring business principles and personal motivations, seen through the lens of a nearly two-decade-old interview, highlighting consistency amidst technological change.

What May Taught Me About TikTok Shop

What April Taught Me About TikTok Shop

A personal retrospective on a month of intense growth and unexpected challenges on TikTok Shop, highlighting key lessons learned through direct experience.

The Simple Reason Most TikTok Videos Fail

Why I Think Most People Are Looking at TikTok the Wrong Way

How to Find UDID of iPhone or iPad Without Mac or PC

UDID (Unique Device Identifier) is a 40-character string that is used to identify an iPhone or iPad.